


Escaping Reality

by Tea_For_One_Please



Series: Multifandom Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay Will Byers, M/M, One-Shot, Tumblr Prompt, they're like 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23051905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tea_For_One_Please/pseuds/Tea_For_One_Please
Summary: Tumblr prompt from @gracegoesuwu: "a v soft byler first date which is all gay and soft and awkward and ending with an awkward but still sweet smooch"ORMike surprises Will on their first date.
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Multifandom Tumblr Prompts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708696
Comments: 4
Kudos: 84





	Escaping Reality

**Author's Note:**

> To the person who sent me this lovely prompt - I hope this is what you were looking for! I hope it's okay that I put it in a modern setting, so they could be affectionate in public without having to write in 80s homophobia or fear thereof. Enjoy!

Will taps his pen anxiously against his notebook, trying desperately to focus on the questions on the board, but largely failing. It’s bad enough that he’s got two hours of math at the end of the day on the last day before spring break, but on top of that, his mind is entirely distracted by something else. Or rather, someone.

He mutters the formula under his breath to help him concentrate. “Negative _b_ , plus or minus the square root of _b_ -squared…” He trails off as his mind drifts again, back to the moment when Mike pulled him away from the group two days prior.

* * *

_“Hey, Will?”_

_“Yeah?” He looks up at Mike, still a frustrating four inches taller than him, even after all these years._

_“I don’t suppose you, uh, want to do something Friday night?” He’s blushing furiously, and Will’s not entirely sure why._

_“Sure,” he shrugs. “What did you have in mind?”_

_“Maybe we could go out to dinner?” Will blinks in surprise – that’s not one of their typical hangout ideas. “Or catch a movie, or something.” Suddenly, as though something’s clicked into place in his brain, Will catches on._

_“Wait, are you asking me out?” he asks, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face, and Mike flushes an even deeper shade of red and nods. “Sounds great,” Will says with a nod. “You’re paying.”_

_“Okay,” Mike says, with a nervous, breathy laugh. “Cool.”_

_“Cool,” Will echoes. “Text me when you’ve chosen where we’re going,” he adds, before turning away so he can grin properly without feeling foolish._

* * *

Even now, Will can’t suppress the goofy smile that forces its way out of him as he recalls the conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly becomes aware of someone looking at him, and glances over to his left. Mike smiles shyly and looks away, and Will can see the tips of his ears tingeing scarlet again.

The day seems to drag on, as Will forces himself – only half-successfully – to focus on his math work until the bell finally sounds, ringing in the end of the day and the beginning of spring vacation. Will weaves through crowds of noisy students, enthusing about having a couple of weeks off and griping having to study for exams, until he reaches his locker. El sidles up to him and wiggles her eyebrows.

“What?” he says, with a good-natured sigh.

“So tonight’s the night, huh?” she asks.

“How on earth do you know about that?”

“Oh, please,” she scoffs. “You and Mike have been making eyes at each other for three days, I figured something was up.”

“But how did you know about tonight?” he asks, still suspicious.

“I asked him,” she shrugs, and he tuts at her. She pulls out her phone and shows him a text thread. “Now I have the proof in writing,” she says, her tone innocent, but her words suggest otherwise. “And you’re both at my mercy.”

“What, you’re going to blackmail us?” he says in a withering tone.

“Maybe.”

He rolls his eyes and decides to play along. “Look, El,” he says, closing his locker and looking seriously at her. “I don’t mind you knowing – really. But could you keep it quiet? I know no one would care, but all the same, I don’t want the others to know until we’re both ready for things to be, you know, official.”

She seems to consider making a jibe, but nods and shrugs. “Okay, I won’t tell.”

“Thank you.”

“So where’s he taking you?”

“I don’t know yet,” he admits. “I told him to choose.”

“Ooh, risky,” she says, only half-joking. “Well, have fun,” she adds, hugging him. “See you tomorrow?”

“Definitely.” She wanders briskly off, her short ponytail bobbing back and forth. Will watches her leave, then slings his backpack onto his shoulders and heads to the bike sheds.

Two hours and a lot of preparation later, and he’s standing outside his house, scrolling mindlessly through social media while he waits for Mike. He wouldn’t tell Will what he’s decided, only that he’d pick him up and drive them there. It’s all quite mysterious, and Will’s a little apprehensive. After all, he’s never been on a date before, let alone with Mike, whom he’s had a crush on for nearly five years.

He hears the clipped toot of a horn, and looks up to see the car that Mike shares with Nancy when she’s home for the holidays, trundling onto the driveway. He jogs to the passenger side and gets in, greeting Mike with a breathless, “Hey,” as he fastens his seatbelt. “So where are we going?” he asks, intrigued.

“Ah,” Mike says with a knowing smile. “That’d be telling.”

“Oh, go on,” Will pleads. “You know I hate surprises.”

“Alright, fine,” Mike says with a chuckle. “I give in. We’re going to the mall.”

“Oh,” Will says, masking his disappointment.

“No, it’s better than that,” Mike says incredulously. “What do you take me for? There’s a new event thing there, and we’re trying it out.”

“Oh, okay,” Will says, his interest restored. “What is it?”

“No, you gotta wait for that,” Mike teases. That’s all Will can get out of him for the rest of the journey, despite his threats to get out of the car – which for some reason, Mike doesn’t take too seriously.

Once they’ve parked, they stop at a fast-food joint for a couple of drinks (“Better to eat after,” Mike says, giving nothing away), then Mike leads Will up the escalators and through the mall until they stop outside a storefront Will doesn’t recognise.

“Hold up,” Will says slowly, scanning the windows. “Is this a VR experience?” Mike grins and nods, and Will throws his arms around him excitedly. “Oh my god, Mike, that’s _awesome_!”

“You like it?” Mike says, hugging him back with a low laugh. He scratches the back of his head as Will lets him go. “I wasn’t sure if I’d made the right choice.”

“It’s perfect,” Will says, more gently. He offers him his hand; Mike hesitates for only a second before taking it and interlocking their fingers. They enter the store together and head for the front desk.

“Hi, welcome to VR Central!” the receptionist chirps, with a perfected customer-service smile. “Have you already booked?”

“Yeah, here you go,” Mike says, unlocking his phone and showing her his booking reference. She scans the code on the screen and nods.

“Right through that door,” she says, pointing to their left. “Enjoy!”

Once they’re inside, they’re led to a corner of the room with a screen and two low, square platforms about four feet wide. A supervisor gives them both a headset, but Mike insists that Will take the first turn for himself. Predictably, Will chooses a scenario from a _Star Wars_ game, placing him in an X-wing, escorting a Rebel ship through an Imperial blockade.

“Oh my god,” Will exclaims as it starts up, and Mike glances at the screen, so he can see what Will’s seeing. “This is incredible. I know it’s a few years old at this point, but it looks so real!” He twists the hand controls a couple of times, murmuring to himself as he familiarises himself with the controls. “Mike, look, it’s got the targeting computer from the original film!”

 _He’s adorable_ , Mike thinks, smiling fondly.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Will says, confidently, and presses a button on his sensor to start the simulation, letting out a soft gasp as his ship enters hyperspace. “Mike, are you seeing this?”

“Yeah,” he says, as enthusiastic as Will is, and vaguely regretting letting Will have the first try, because damn it, he wants a go. Watching Will is fun though – and he’s actually really good. Well, apart from the time he physically ducks as an enemy fighter flies too close to his ship.

“Shut up!” he protests when he hears Mike laughing at him, but there’s no malice in it. Shortly after this moment, the simulation comes to an end and Will pulls off his headset, blinking at the overhead lights. “Whoa,” Will says, giddy with excitement. “ _Whoa_.”

“Can I try?” Mike asks, and Will nods.

“Of course! Let me see, though, I think there are some two-player scenarios we can do together.” He scrolls through the list, then points to one. “We could fight zombies?”

“What I’ve always wanted,” Mike says drily, and Will shoves him.

“There’s also a spy-stealth-mission thing, or a flying simulation,” he says. “But you suck at flying games, so maybe not that one…”

“I do not,” Mike says indignantly, but chooses the spying one all the same. They have a lot of fun with it, unconsciously whispering instructions to each other, even though they can’t be heard, and taking turns in causing distractions so the other can move around. Eventually, though, Mike backs his character up a little too far and knocks a mug off a desk, alerting the security and ending the game.

“ _Fucking_ thing!” He pulls off his headset in disgust, and Will smiles, trying to reassure him.

“Don’t worry,” he says, while trying not to laugh at Mike’s competitive strop. “We did quite well, and it _is_ just a game.”

“Not the point,” he says gruffly, and Will laughs.

“Come on,” he says, replacing his headset and starting to scroll through the simulations again. “Let’s try something else.” Mike begrudgingly puts his own headset back over his eyes and protests as Will chooses the dogfight scenario, as despite his indignation, he does actually suck at flying games.

At the end of the evening, they buy a hotdog each and take it back to Mike’s car to eat, indifferent to Nancy’s warnings of dismemberment if they don’t return the car spotless. Once they’ve finished, Will breaks the comfortable silence.

“I had fun tonight,” he says, turning in his seat and leaning against the headrest.

“Yeah?” Mike says, swallowing the last of his hotdog and wiping his mouth on his napkin.

“Yeah,” Will smiles. “And not just because of the VR,” he adds. _Because it was with you_ , he leaves unsaid, but Mike nods knowingly.

“Me too.”

“Can we do this again?” Will asks. “I mean, if you want to?”

“The VR?” Mike jokes, and Will rolls his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’ll be serious,” Mike adds hastily. “Yeah, we can do it again. I – I’d love to.” A heavy silence follows, as Will’s gaze flickers down to Mike’s lips. He bites his own, uncertain how to ask to kiss him without it being weird. Once again, though, Mike seems to know without him needing to ask, because suddenly he’s leaning closer. Will mirrors his movements, closing his eyes – then feels a dull _thud_ of pain as their foreheads collide. “Ouch,” Mike mumbles, and Will opens his eyes in alarm.

“I’m sorry,” he gasps, but Mike shakes his head and chuckles.

“All good,” he says softly, leaning over the gearshift again. This time, Will turns his head fractionally to the left, and their lips meet for the first time. It’s still a little awkward, and doesn’t last very long, but before Will has time to dwell on this, Mike’s kissing him again, longer and more intensely. He feels Mike’s hand on his right cheek, and tastes cheap meat and mustard on Mike’s lips. He lets out a soft sigh of contentment, and both let out a nervous laugh when they finally break apart. “Was that okay?” Mike asks, and Will nods dumbly.

“Very,” he says gently.

“Cool,” Mike says, smiling only slightly, but his eyes are practically shining as he turns the key in the ignition and pulls away. “Hey, Will?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad we did this.”

“Me too,” Will says happily.

“You know what this means, though?” Mike says, and Will looks questioningly at him. “You have to think of something even better for our next date.”

“Challenge accepted,” Will says with a smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment with your thoughts, or send me an ask / a new prompt on my Tumblr (@tea-for-one-please)!


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